On Appreciating: Life

So, I haven't posted here in a while, and I decided that since it's the Thanksgiving season, I really ought to think about how I can be grateful for the things that I have.  When I start to come up with a list of what it is I have to be thankful for, there seems to be a lot.  Then I remembered I was doing this thing, and felt, maybe I should share about being thankful.  I think thankfulness is definitely something that's pretty hard to come by sometimes, and that it's definitely something that doesn't come naturally.  It's something that I need to continually practice and that I am continually trying to practice.  I hope that these few things that I've learned help you out too.  Being thankful in general, I think, is the major way to appreciate life, to me, by appreciating something, you're saying, "I'm glad or thankful that this thing is here." I don't know that I'm an expert on appreciation, but I feel that life as a whole is something to be appreciated, and here are a few ways how.

First, start with the little things.  There are a lot of things that I tend to take for granted and honestly, if I stop and think about it, they're really quite a luxury.  In fact, a lot (most) of the things I have that I consider mine by right are really something of a privilege.  My family, my friends, my car, my home, etc... even little things down to "common courtesy" that people extend to me.  An exercise that I do daily that really helps me is to think of one thing to be thankful about, doesn't matter what it is, it doesn't have to be anything big, philosophical, or grandiose, but just a simple, "I'm grateful today for the phone call I had with my parents the other day."  Something like that, and then answer the simple question that naturally follows; why?

Another way is to know where things come from.  Gratitude doesn't really make much sense unless there's a someone or something to be grateful to.  Remembering to be thankful really entails remembering those who have given or done things for you.  Things mean a lot more if there's a name and face you can attach to them, that name and face being the source.  Of course there are intangibles, but ultimately, all of that comes back to God, who is the provider of all things.  While we ought to appreciate the gifts that are given to us, it's ultimately more important to appreciate the giver giving it.

Finally, one thing that I definitely have a hard time doing consistently, gratitude doesn't really mean a whole lot until it's expressed.  I know it's hard for me to say or express thanks to people except in kind of special circumstances.  It feels kind of awkward, but if we can step past that, by expressing gratitude, it really helps lift someone up.  It's really good to know that someone is grateful for something done for them, I like it when people thank me for something.  In the same way then, in being thankful, I need to show people I'm thankful to that I'm thankful.

Well, this is my little Thanksgiving spiel, sorry that I haven't posting with regularity to those that are following this.  Hope you guys all have a great and wonderful Thanksgiving.  Happy Thanksgiving!  

New Blog

For the 3 (maybe 4) readers of my blog:

As you may have noticed I have begun a trend of NBA blogging, thus, as it has become quite prevalent, I have decided to start another blog for it. Please visit jacemannba.blogspot.com to see the new ones. This will be fed to my Facebook profile as well. Meaning this blog no longer will as you can only have one feed to Facebook at a time.

Much Apologies

So this is for the 3 readers that might be out there avidly following my blog and are wondering where the updates have been over the past week or two. I humbly apologize to them. I have been neglect in updating this post for a while, and while I blame webcomics, I also my blame myself for being lazy. I will attempt to do something more substantial after this cop-out of a post. So again, my humble apologies.

Other Blogs

So, I suppose I'll put it here since this is probably the place people come to the most. I have two other blogs here if you are interested. One at jacemandevo.blogspot.com, which is my reflections on the daily devotions provided through Oswald Chamber's My Utmost for His Highest. The second is found at jacemanmisc.blogspot.com, which entails my current novel in work titled, The Journeys of Marrick Avian. Enjoy!

The Purpose of Blogging

People are probably wondering why I do this, as opposed to just putting up my sporadic and apparently depressing notes every now and again on Facebook. Of course, there could be the real possibility that no one is really wondering why I am doing this and not really anyone cares. Either way, I felt that it would be appropriate for me to explain myself to those readers (or lack thereof) that are reading this. So I found this place pretty randomly by Googling free online blogging, it's nice because you can just use your GMail account to access everything. The layout is nice and straightfoward, and there isn't a whole lot of confusion as to how to use it. It's much more practical than my previous website and easier to organize than Facebook (not to mention it's not as commoditized as MyJournal or Xanga, I like the obscure).

As for why I'm blogging again, after my vain attempt previously with my own HTML website... Well, needless to say, I need an outlet of some sort, I suppose this provides that outlet. I'm at somewhat of a roadblock on my other writing (i.e. my novels and screenplays) that I need something that feels somewhat more conversational, somewhere where I can write like I talk. Granted I don't know that there'll be someone "listening" on the other end, but sometimes it's just good to get it out there. Additionally, I've decided to try to post daily reflections on my devotionals through Oswald Chambers's My Utmost for His Highest and other Biblical passages hopefully through this as well, to keep me accountable. I haven't gotten to today yet, but I have not forgotten. Well, that's that in a nutshell. Hope those readers out there enjoy, and if not, meh...